Tip from Rafael2487.
Oh my gosh Latif's climb to victory was the most epic thing I've ever watched as far as fighting games go. Once Daigo was eliminated by him I thought we were going to see an American winner for EVO 2K11, and even though we didn't I can't say it could have gotten any more hype in that room. Latif single-handedly proved that you can't take American (regardless if its on a student visa) players too lightly.
I watched all those moments on the stream.
I have to say that even though Daigo got perfected, Balrog deserved the #1 spot just because of how big that comeback was.
Its just my opinion but this is a great vid anyway. Good job
One of the greatest evo's in recent memory, everyone's leveled up and besides the grand final there were no gimmie fights, every battle was hard fought to the bitter end.
I was disappointed in evo 2010,I thought evo 2k9 was alot more entertaining, but evo2k11 more than made up for it.
I honestly think they use the term prodigy WAY too lightly. If that's really the case, then everyone on Xbox LIVE must be a prodigy because they all use the Hulk st.H.
He's only a prodigy if he's doing things like beating JWong 10-3.
@6
Shut up, I'm sure you could have gotten to top 48 in EVO when you were 8... :|
He is incredibly above average for his age.
Wow! I literally got chills reliving those. <shudder>
Pretty f*ckin epic!
Oh and don't forget about the epic pairing on the commentary for Tekken!
Props to Maximillian, he made a great and accurate top 5! :)
@3
Not to take anything away from PR Rog's incredible comeback but I'd say the reason that moment isn't #1 is because he didn't actually comeback to win the whole grand finals after that. If he did though, then yeah, I'm sure everyone would agree with that being #1.
@6
Dude, he's 8 years old, that's the key part. That's why he's being called a prodigy. If he can place in the top 48 at the biggest tourney in the world at THAT age, imagine what he can do when he gets older?
@6 and 8: While 6 is correct that Noah isn't quite proodigal, he IS exceptionally skilled, especially considering his age. He was making legitimately good reads, decisions, and clutch play. He should go far if he continues.
Also ,I hope Max got that Phoenix cosplayer's number.
...For Assist Me shenanigans.
Great vid, but I must add this :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csbVAo...
Combofiend's comeback against Fanatiq was EPIC, specially after theses sets against Mike Ross.
When I was 8, I was doing this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSBjqS... at 7/11s and laundromats, everywhere!
@Everyone who doesn't think the 8 year old is a prodigy
Seriously? You guys are down on him just because he uses Hulk? Hulk isn't even an amazing character. The kid could use Wolverine/Akuma/Sentinel for all I care and still be a prodigy. He's 8 years old. When I was 8, I thought jump kick into sweep was an invincible combo.
I want to thank Maximillian for this video, I was able to watch some parts of Evo on Friday and Saturday, but I missed all the Sunday action because of work. I missed all the hyped up fights.
Awesome list, much much better than that sh-tty list by G4. Should have included Combofiend vs Fanatiq. DAT HUG at the end. Epic.
Favorite part: Poongko vs Daigo. I'm a Daigo nuthugger but that Poongko powerup on stage was hilarious.
@14, you can just save it and direct it at me, because it's clear that's who you were aiming for (It was obvious when you mentioned hulk and the st.H). Based off your statement, I'm guessing you've played with him before and seen his wolverine and akuma? How are they?
Also, I'm not saying he's a bad player, I'm just saying that he's not a prodigy. I also think it's lame that if anyone says anything about him or beats him, they immediately get seen as a villain.
@7
Spark was indeed amazing, and it was always so entertaining to watch him play. He totally earned the nickname the "Iron Wall." It didn't earn a place in Maximillian's top 5, but Spark's entire match with LK was an Evo moment for me. I mean, forcing him to counterpick with THE top tier character in CS2, and THEN still beating him? Hilarious.
Not a massive blazblue fan but I know the game, and yeah I totally agree.. the performance Spark put on was just astounding, this is a guy who knows his character like the back of his hand and understands the game he's playing like no other
it was a sick, sick performance :)
@ 14
I was thinking the kid is not that special.
He has good reads but no real combos.
He gets lucky with Hulk S.H and goes for a brainless combo
Sentinel - Does he really take skill to use?
And Wesker? I dare you to go online and fight 3 matches and not see a Wesker!
Basically the kid picks the easiest characters in the game to cheese with. NO BIG DEAL!!
If he played with Modok, Lei Lei, and or even Zero. And kick ass. The kid is a REAL prodigy.
But for now he's just a kid that took advantage of the amazing properties on those moves they gave HSW
Great video Max! I too missed out on all the finals Sunday and this list was amazing. I could really feel the electricity in the room, i love the hype! This motivates me to make it to next years event heh.
Also a special wow for the whole SF4 section, these guys did their thing! Taking out the top dogs, looks like everyone trained really hard congrats guys
@22 abd @23
WOW!!!!
You guys are such TROLLS!!!
You guys sound just like a bunch of Xbox Live scrubs that bet beat down all the time. Do you even know what Prodigy means?
Listen to what your saying? He used Hulk? Did you know Mike Ross uses Hulk too and he did'nt make Top 30 if im not mistaken i'd have to check. Hulk is a hard character to use and he wasn't exactly using great assist except to reset his combos.
IF he really wanted to do damage he would have picked Sentinel, Wolverine and Pheonix or something to that calibur. So you turds just give Noah more credit than you think your taking away. Hulk is a popular character for Kids by nature, to come in and do well with your favorite character than a Proven-OP-Team, is impressive. but thats beside the point.
The point is it is not usual for someone his age to come to a major tournament at this level with many great players even ones that don't make top 100, and do this well. My daughter is 8 and don't play like this, how will Noah play when he is 12, what about 16, what about 20? He's got a long road ahead. That is why we call him Prodigy, not because he's magic, but because he has a very strong protential to do better than the rest.
F*ucking Haters!
@25
I do know what prodigy means, and I don't use words like that lightly. You sound like a bandwagon-er and going along with what everyone else is saying.
Do you play against this kid IRL? You know something that I don't? Please tell me if you do, I'm really interested to know! Tell me about some secret tech that this kid has been working on that we all don't know. From what I've seen, the kid uses the most brainless combos and strategies. When I was watching I felt like I was watching a movie with the most predictable storyline.
I mean, I don't even play Hulk and I could see some basic things that the kid wasn't even doing. I want to say that the people who lost to weren't playing dumb enough to see how basic his tactics were. I also want to know if there were some people who lost because they let the kid win because they didn't want to be seen as a villain when they scraped the floor with him.
Wow, that kid is amazing! This is what it takes to become a top player. Beginning at a young age and fighting good competition, in 2 or 3 years, he'll get into top 32 or beyond and really turn up the heat. The kid is certain a prodigy of fighting games. Normal 8 year olds wouldn't be likely to make it out of pools due to inexperience.
I love how they said "Evo finals was filled with moments", showed latif's run but conveniently left out Fuudo's absolute godlike performance against him in the finals. I don't get it, support American gamers but don't make it so biased it's retarded.
Give Von_Kunlun_BOOF some props will ya? This is an OPINION SECTION, and his comment has everything to do with the video. The kid made it to Top 48 at age 8, good for him, but prodigy shouldn't be the word to describe him. His Hulk was decent at best, as too his Wesker and Sentinel. I remember a comment on a post not too long ago talking about how people's true feelings never come out on these forums because of how fast they get shot down. I can understand different opinion, but we're all entitled to opinions, and to Von, Noah wasn't the most impressive. Don't take it any other way.
@28 and 30
uhhh this isnt called top evo performance moments
not to take away from fuudo but i think most people think fei is a boring character to watch
not to take away from his performance cause he obviously bodied a lot of people
but it's not hype watching a japanese player win on an american stage
it's hype to watch the american underdog
for me, it was wayyyy more hype watching latif steal a round then fuudo taking a game
Fuudo's performance and tournament win was indeed amazing, but you can't really define that as an EVO moment. It was kind of a forgone conclusion that he was going to body Latiff, especially judging from their first encounter which sent Latiff into losers. Now say if Latiff was winning the rounds and it was at matchpoint with Fuudo at a huge deficit that he rallied back from to win, then you can call that an EVO moment. Or even if grand finals was neck and neck with anybody's chance to win could you consider it an EVO moment. I'm sure Maximillian could have mentioned it, but ehh them the breaks kid.
As for this "controversy" with Noah. Haha jeez this is such a non issue, but whatever. Sure he's talented and is doing what we all should have been doing at his age which is competing amongst top opposition at a very early and impressionable age. They're only calling him a prodigy because well what else would you call him? What other kids are even in the scene, doing this? Him and CJ Truth are the young upstarts that are doing well and can only get better and given the time he'll eventually put in could possibly be another Justin Wong. You never know. Props to him for even making it out of pools and into Top 64? Top 32? Top 16? I don't remember. I don't understand why are we even arguing about this again? Just seems kind of petty to even hate on this kid for being called something that isn't even self proclaimed. The kid is just going out there and wreckin' fools, that's all. But I digress.
@34
Agreed. I'm actually quite surprised at why they chose to put him Fuudo beating Latif as one of the "Gods shall fall" moments. No one really considered Latif as a God of SF before EVO2k11. Evo2K11 was the tournament in which Latif becomes a God, but he was never known as a SF-God before evo2k11.
They should have put in the match where Wolfkrone eliminates Mago, the 2D God, from the tournament rather than have Fuudo beat Latif.
Latif was incredible. Knocking out Wong, Tokido, Daigo, and Poongko in one single tournament. Nobody else can claim that accomplishment, NOBODY.
I felt that Poongko should have won EVO though. It was incredible how he decimated Daigo, but he just got so careless afterwards and lost focus. GAH. D:
@30
it's cause it's freaking daigo man. that's why it was hype. fuudo is already a freaking beast and he wasn't the underdog in the during his matches. the finals wasn't that hype cause of the way he handled him. also it's also cause latif and wolfkrone's name isn't as big as daigo. not taking anything from fuudo's skills, it's just the match wasn't good, just him owning.
that was a good video because he didn't try to be funny in it. he should stick to making videos like this. his humor sucks.
Lmao @ trolls stooping to an all time low and hating on an eight year old.
This was my first year watching EVO this closely. If this is what I can expect from here on out, then DAMN. This year was epic as hell - I was getting hype watching the BB finals even, lol.
(Would have been more interested in the T6 finals if it hadn't been Bob v Bob most of the way. That got a bit boring to watch for me.)
Anyways, long post forthcoming in 3... 2...
@6 - My problem with your original statement is that you're setting a ridiculous bar, and ignoring a lot of what makes his standings at EVO fairly special.
Seriously... how many *grown men* can beat JWong 10-3? Not many (I'm sure you were exaggerating but you get the point). I don't know about you, but I couldn't even do a DP consistently when I was 12 - hell, I didn't know what a frame trap was until I was at least in my late teens, if then! I certainly wouldn't expect an 8 year old to do that - if he did, then we'd probably have to find another word to describe him as prodigy wouldn't cut it in my opinion.
He made some really good reads in his matches, actually managed his meter decently, and while he may not be doing anything extremely complex (and hey, you go with what's working and what's easiet anyway), he certainly isn't making many mistakes.
And c'mon man, really? Comparing him to random Xbox Live players? I know (read: I hope) you were exaggerating, but still, that's kinda' ridiculous.
In any case, you obviously have a different definition for prodigy; I don't think anyone literally means he's an 8-year-old Daigo. But you went out of your way to snipe at the kid - or rather the people who are giving him props? - who made top 48 at EVO.
If the pros in the FGC are excited about him, he must be doing something right aside from being so young.
Even then, that's also keeping in mind that he plays at least two games (unless he dropped SSFIV) at a fairly high level.
@ 43 - I don't recall who else Fuudo beat (to be honest he was completely off my radar and now I'm learning that I should have been watching him more carefully!), but he bodied Latif and put him into losers pretty convincingly IIRC. He bodied quite a few top players himself, at least I've heard.
I wouldn't have been surprised if things had played out differently, Fuudo would have beaten any of the others that Latif won again.
Taking nothing away from Latif at all though - that dude's Viper is all kinds of incredible. I don't see how he and Wolfkrone do it. That woman's execution requirements make me cringe, lol.
@32 and 38
I understand that perhaps Latif's underdog run was hype, but here's why it NEEDED to end with Fuudo.
These are facts btw.
EVERYONE who knew about the Japan USA rivalry thought that Latif was about to turn the tide. Not only that, he had beaten Daigo, Tokido, even Poongko the Diago-slayer. In a war with the japanese, Latif was the atomic bomb.
Then Fuudo bodies him. BAD. That's not hype though; what's hype is the entire japanese crew lifting Fuudo onto their shoulders and cheering themselves senseless as the Japanese flag is proudly displayed. Their message was cleared: "Oh my god Fuudo you just saved our asses please have my babies".
Yeah it may not be hyped in the way American audiences wanted it, but guess what. It was hype . . . MASS hype. Swallow it.
Im just curious what an 8 year has to do be entitled a prodigy by some ppl.I tried teaching my 7 year old nephew how to dp and throw fireballs just last week and it was really hard for him.
epic :)